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EF1 tornado in Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Tornado June 18, 2026 · Orleans Parish, Louisiana

EF1
Rating
7.6 mi
Whole path
225 yd
Path width
$140K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Jefferson Parish → Orleans Parish; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 225 yards (0.13 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado that began in Jefferson Parish Parish entered Orleans Parish near the intersection of Bamboo Road and Palmetto Street. The tornado moved northeast to the University of New Orleans. Damage across the city was mostly tree damage and minor building damage.

The wider storm

A mesoscale convective system formed on the eastern side of Post-Tropical Storm Arthur on June 18th. Favorable low level winds allowed for multiple mini-supercells to form on the leading edge of the mesoscale convective system resulting in several tornadoes impacting the Houma and New Orleans metro areas. These tornadoes were rated as EF-0 and EF-1 events. Additionally, the mesoscale convective complex tapped into a region of deep tropical moisture with atmospheric moisture content well above normal levels for mid-June. This resulted in several significant flash flooding events in portions of the Houma and New Orleans metro areas including the cities of Houma, Kenner, and Slidell. Another area of heavy rainfall from thunderstorms formed over central Louisiana near the center of Post-Tropical Storm Arthur producing flash flooding in portions of Pointe Coupee Parish. Lingering moisture and weak upper level troughing associated with the slow moving remnants of Post-Tropical Storm Arthur produced additional thunderstorm activity on June 19th. This activity was focused in metro New Orleans where a brief EF-0 tornado developed in the community of Arabi. On June 20th, another band of thunderstorms developed along a lingering boundary stretching from coastal Louisiana toward New Orleans. This band of thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall and impacted portions of the Houma and New Orleans metro areas producing a few flash flooding events in Houma, Destrehan, and Kenner.

Began near New Orleans (29.9770, -90.1248).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

16 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1346240. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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